Chaplain Cassius leading 7 Assault Termies w T-Hammer/SShields in a Land Raider Crusader
2 Dreadnaughts w Multi-Meltas in Drop Pods
1 Tac Squad w Multi-Melta in Drop Pod
2x Tac Squads w Multi-Melta, Meltagun, Pfist Sgt in Rhinos
2x Tac Squads w Multi-Melta, Flamer, Pfist Sgt in Rhinos
3x Vindicators
Simple, to the point and totally the type of list I know how to break. He won the roll and grabbed first turn. (I didn't win a single turn choice all day, but was still given the one I wanted every time... Hah!) He deployed in a standard aggressive phalanx. I went with the Wraithguard forward again and put both Spiders and all the Jetbikes in Reserves. It looked a little something like this:
Now it may look like I'm a little tightly grouped to be facing 3x Vindies, but the front of the ruin was solid and I knew he wouldn't be getting LOS for the shots. I wanted them to look like juicy targets for the Dreads... and oh did I get my wish.
Turn 1 saw both Dreads slam down right on top of my Wraithguard. I knew I was safe from the Vindies at that moment. He used a Dread to pop the Banshee Serpent, killing 4. The other targetted the Wraithguard and killed one, as did a stray Vindie shot.
My Dragons piled out of their tank and dropped the first Dread (killing 2 of themselves in the explosion), while the Banshees slipped over and stole their ride. The Wraithguard removed the other threat and advanced to where the Vindies could see them as I was now protected by Fortune. My right Dragon Serpent moved Fast to try and bait the Assault Termies into getting out early so I could shoot the snot out of them... And then my Wraithlords started Shooting. I destroyed the Land Raider, a Vindicator and Weapon Destroyed another Vindie. Oh yeah...
His turn I couldn't believe my fortune... he dropped a Tac squad in range of my Banshees. I'm used to them having targets to take down, but it's not every day that someone makes a target of themselves. His shooting was incidental and mostly he moved to swarm bodies onto the objectives and/or into the maw to slow me down. The nice thing was Cassius and Co taking my bait and going after the Dragon Serpent. They did manage to wreck it, but it meant an extra turn they weren't beating on my Wraithguard.
My turn saw the Dragons reap revenge on the Termies, dropping 4 thanks to DB flamers, Doom and a nice dose of luck. One Wraithlord Flamed and charged them, but failed to do any damage. The others also forgot what they were doing and missed with their shots. The Wraithguard dropped the last Vindie threat while the Banshees cleaned house: killing 9, losing 1 to the Sgt, and then dropping him with No Retreat hits. The Dragons meltabombed both Drop Pods, managing to kill 2 more of their number and a Wraithguard in the explosion. Spiders also came in on my left and took advantage of a Serpent popping a Rhino, but they only killed 1 guy.
Turn 3 saw him wipe the Banshees, blast my Dragons on the right and generally continue his path to swarm the objectives.
I retaliated for the loss of the Dragons, sadly such that I couldn't charge that turn. My surviving Dragons moved on to pop another Rhino, bringing their kill total up to 4 vehicles that game... and also killing another one of their own in the explosion. These guys were a little overzealous... Combined Serpent, Spider and Jetbike fire on the far left removed an entire squad, though the Spiders had to use their powerblades in CC to kill the last couple of guys.
So things at this point were pretty much solid, presuming I took care of a few odds and ends. His Termies finally killed my Wraithlord and then charged my Wraithguard, but got killed before they could attack thanks to Enhance. The other two Wraithlords wandered around and popped vehicles and tidying up. Here's what things looked like after my movement phase in Turn 6:
That little gap in my lines at the front left of his tank? Totally deliberate. I wanted to make sure that when I popped the tank, he couldn't do an Emergency Disembark and remain within 3" of the objective. Of course with all this preparation, the tank died to the first volley of Warp Spider fire. I chose to shoot them first since AP- won't cause Penetrating Explodes. He then tried disembarking on the side facing the objective, until I asked if he could do so without being in 1" of an enemy model. The two guys then took a full volley from the second Spider squad and died several times over. This gave me a full Wipe Out.
Final Result: Massacre #3. 24 Battle Points to 0.
This was enough to give me Overall with 68 points total. One other guy managed 3x Massacres, but didn't get enough extra points and had 67. The next closest scorer had 52...
All in all, a fun day gaming. Though there were a lot of really solid lists, any rules exploitations were minimal. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to spend the winnings on and if I'm free to head to Round 2!
Congrats on the win.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly faced some tough lists.
Very nice job, you really put the hurt on those guys! The Tau and Ultramarine games were especially brutal, and all were well played.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you get to play in the next round! I'm planning on finishing up my Seer Council and take it to the 'Ard Boyz next year, if they run it.
Oh, and your Fire Dragons were hilarious in the last game.
Congratulations on your win!
ReplyDeleteGreat reports. Those Crimson Fists seemed real hard. I also LOL'd at your Dragons' antics last game.
Cheers,
Dave
@Rkik: Thanks. It was one where I walked away feeling like I'd met a challenge and won, rather than just bulldozed a bunch of newbs.
ReplyDelete@Zach: I'll give the Tau guy props for seeing the inevitable. But I'll also give the Ultramarine player props... after my Turn 3 his body language really changed and I think he saw the inevitable too but had the chutzpah to stick to the bitter end.
Also, it looks like I will be doing the Round 2 and I'm thinking Seer Council. Guess I need to get on it.
"Fire Dragons: more threat to ourselves than the enemy is!" Hmm... I think that motto's going on a banner or something for them.
@DaveV: The Crimsons Fists were really hard and led by a rock solid player. He's one of the few locals I consider good competition. I was expecting probably a draw, maybe a minor owe way or the other. I certainly was not expecting a decisive victory.